These classic Ground Beef Tacos feature homemade taco meat loaded into freshly fried taco shells. Serve up with all your favorite toppings for an easy family meal that takes less than 30 minutes!
Why make this Ground Beef Taco Meat Recipe?
- Quick and easy: this meal can be ready on the table in under 30 minutes, making this a perfect family weeknight meal.
- Homemade seasoning blend: skip the packets and make your own seasoning! This allows you to control the salt and heat to suit your family’s needs.
- Family Friendly & Perfect for Gatherings: cook up the meat and serve this buffet style so guests/kids can get the toppings they want!
Ingredients Needed:
Notes on Some Ingredients:
- Ground Beef: The best meat to use for taco meat is a simple ground beef, a 70-80% lean. The fat is going to help give flavor to the meat and we are able to drain the grease prior to serving.
- Tomato Sauce: grab any kind of canned, pureed tomato sauce. Or if you want more spice you could use a thick salsa instead.
- Oil: this is used for frying up the tortillas. Use either a canola or a vegetable oil.
- Tortillas: white corn tortillas fry up perfectly to make a crisp taco shell. If you would prefer you could use flour tortillas and not fry them. I would recommend using tortillas that are 6 inches.
How to make (Step by Step)
- Step 1: Cook the ground beef, cook it up until it’s completely browned. Drain the grease. Then when we return to the heat to the stove lower the heat, add the homemade taco seasoning and a small amount of tomato sauce.
- Step 2: Allow the taco meat to simmer briefly in the sauce to give more flavor.
- Step 3: Fry the corn tortillas in a small amount of oil in a medium size skillet. Once fried on both sides, remove the tortillas and fold in half to form their shape.
- Step 4: Fill the taco shells with the cooked beef and any toppings desired.
F.A.Q’s
How much meat should I use per person?
Plan on using 1 lb of meat for 4 people. This will yield about 2-3 tablespoons of meat per taco.
What are some good topping ideas?
Some suggestions are: Shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, diced cilantro.
What do I serve as a side?
Mexican Rice and refried beans are always great options. Other ideas include: charro beans, Mexican Street Corn, or Street Corn in a Cup.
How can I add more heat to the seasoning blend?
Add a bit of crushed red pepper as needed for more heat.
Expert Tips:
- Fry your own tortillas: White corn tortillas, or even yellow corn tortillas can be easily fried in a small amount of oil. These turn out so much better than store bought crunchy shells.
- Skip the water: The tomato sauce thickens it up and helps the spices stick to the meat. It’s so flavorful and you will never go back to using water with your seasoning again!
- Variations/Modifications: If you want to use flour tortillas I would recommend using a smaller, 6 inch size. You can also switch out the ground beef for ground turkey or chicken.
- Extra Veggies: looking to add some more veggies? Chop up some peppers, zucchini, and carrots to sauté with the meat while it cooks.
More Recipes To Enjoy:
Best Ground Beef Taco Recipe
The absolute BEST ground beef Tacos! An easy to make homemade taco seasoning and a secret ingredient that makes this the most flavorful and juiciest taco meat EVER! The perfect family weeknight meal that can be ready in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef, 70-80% lean*
- 1 tbsp chili Powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ½ cup tomato sauce
Taco Shells
- 8 white corn tortillas
- ½ cup oil, canola or vegetable
Equipment
Instructions
- Cook Ground Beef: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef. Break the beef up with a wooden spoon while cooking. Cook the ground beef fully, until browned and no longer pink.
- Drain: Drain any excess grease from the skillet. Then return to the stove and reduce the heat to low.
- Season: Add the 1/2 cup tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Stir together until the meat is coated in the sauce.
- Simmer: Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Fry Tortillas: Pour 1/2 cup oil in a medium size skillet, heat over medium high heat. Carefully dip a tortilla, if the oil sizzles and bubbles then it's hot enough. Gently lay the tortilla in the oil and fry each side for about 30 seconds, just enough to give some color and add some crispness.
- Shape Tortillas: Remove the tortilla to a paper towel to absorb oil, and carefully fold the tortilla over to create a taco shape. I do this with my tongs, or two forks, whatever I'm using to lay the tortillas in the oil and remove them.
- Toppings: Fill the tortillas with the ground beef taco meat and add desired toppings
Video
Notes
- Ground Beef: Using 80/20 ground beef, this keeps the meat flavorful, but not greasy.
- Ground Beef Substitution: instead of ground beef use ground chicken or turkey.
- Extra Veggies: looking to add some more veggies? Chop up some peppers, zucchini, and carrots to sauté with the meat while it cooks.
- Control the Heat: if you are wanting to add more heat to this recipe sprinkle some crushed red pepper into the seasoning blend according to your preference.
- Tortillas: Taco shells shown are white corn tortillas that have been fried in canola oil.
- Topping ideas: shredded mild cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced grape tomatoes, diced cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, jalapeños, and onion.
- How much meat per person? Plan on using 1 lb per 4 people. This is approximately 2 tablespoons of meat per taco.
Nutrition
Serving: 1, Calories: 152kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 280mg, Potassium: 223mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 363IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 2mg
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Recipe first published March 23, 2018. Updated June 25, 2021 with new images and information.
Photography done by the talented @KJandCompany.co
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Tried this recipe for the first time the other night and we will not be using any other recipe to make tacos from here on out!!!
Soooo Good! Thank you! My husband couldn’t stop eating!!
A hit with my family!! I didn’t have tomato sauce so I used tomato paste and water. Also added fresh lime juice and replaced some of the chili powder with Paprika. Super yummy!
These are the best ground beef tacos I’ve ever had! Will definitely be my go-to recipe. Frying the corn tortillas was a game changer! Thanks!
So simple and sooo delicious… and when I say simple I mean no extra trip to the store (I had all the ingredients)… this recipe is exactly what I needed
I’ve made my own taco seasonings for years but for some reason after trying this slightly different version out I’m hooked. Great recipe and even works well when multiplied by 6, as I cook 5 or 6 lbs at a time. Love it, great job.
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one.
I just made this taco meat recipe. I used real chopped onion and Goya Sofrito tomato base. It is awesome!
Made these twice already and I’m never looking back. I was grinning like an idiot for like an hour after I devoured three tacos because they were just.that.good. I will never purchase taco seasoning again. The tomato sauce is a perfect addition as well. Can’t wait to try more recipes!
The flavor of this taco meat is really, really good. I’ve made it twice. The second time was for a gathering and using an idea I found on pinterest, I added all the ingredients to a crockpot and cooked on high for a couple hours, then on low for a couple more hours until the party. No need to brown the hamburger first. The end result was delicious both times.
I love this recipe and use it often for my tacos.
My husband had a heart attack a few weeks ago, even though he is in tip-top physical shape. Really. He bicycles a minimum of 30 miles every day, and that’s before 10am. He then goes to the gym for an hour, and finally, he plays golf every evening. His problem is McDonalds. Yeah. If his diet improves, he’ll live forever. So I’m cutting as much saturated fat and salt as I can, and he’s forbidden to eat at McD’s. So I love tacos, and so does he, and I made this recipe, changing only 2 things: I used ground chicken, and I put 3/4 c. orf tomato sauce in instead of 1/2 c. Oh yes….no salt either. OMG!! It was delicious! This recipe is a keeper. It’s going in my favorites file. Salt was never missed, and the flavor was wonderful.. Thanks!
So good! I used salsa instead of tomato sauce and it came out fabulous!
Totally making these tonight…even the comments are making my mouth drool.
Super moist meat as promised, i will always cook them like this from now on – thank you!
I was surprised how much of a difference adding the tomatoe sauce made. I loved it. About the last 3 times I made tacos with the seasoning packet I’ve eaten 1 or 2 and it would end up getting thrown out. I fried up corn tortillas and ate up all of the taco meat using your recipe in about 2 and a half days. Ty so much for this recipe. I’m making more tonight already because I’m addicted.